Day 24: In Which She Sees Smoke

His phone rang, and he wiped his hands on his shirt to pick it up. Smiling at the caller ID, he brought the device to his ear. "How come you're not using your walkie-talkie?"

He heard Elsa scoffing on the other side of the line. "I refuse to use that stupid thing."

Jack chuckled, shaking his head. "Not that I have any complaints about it, Elsa, but to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"There's something burning. Tell me it's not you."

A smirk graced his lips. "Is that your roundabout way of calling me hot?"

"I'm talking about the smoke I can see coming out of your apartment, you idiot."

Balancing his phone between his ear and shoulder, he returned to the stove and gave the pan a quick stir. "Oh, that? I'm cooking rice."

"Oh, that's all? Okay, then." Elsa let out a grunt loud enough to cross the wall. "HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?"

"Relax, my timing was just a little off," he grumbled, scooping up some of the rice and giving it a quick taste. Yuck. Okay, so maybe he burned it a little bit too much.

"The smoke is completely black..."

Jack tossed a whole bag of grated cheese inside the pan. Cheese could make anything better, right? "There's nothing you should worry your beautiful head about, Elsa. I've got everything under control."

He tasted it again. Unsurprisingly, it still tasted like burnt rice… but now with a whole mountain of cholesterol garnish on top...

"I never thought I would say this, Jack… but maybe you should go back to Spam..."